Is UID a National waste –
Country to lose 1,50,000 Crore ?
It seems the Indian software
industry is getting more and more
powerful and trying to infringe on
the rights and liberties of citizens.
First it was Satyam's Ramalinga
Raju who defrauded the nation,
now it is Infosys' Nilekanni who
managed to get a much coveted
cabinet berth by just coming up
with a hare brained UID scheme
which will cost the nation
1,50,000 crores.
The national unique identification project (UID), initiated by
businessman Nandan Nilekani,
has netted some corporates huge
profits including a free cabinet
berth for Nilekanni who can live
and travel like an obese Indian
Maharaja at the cost of the tax

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payer without having to contest
any elections. He is a non-elected
Central Cabinet Minister who is
enjoying the benefits of power and
making the country shell out
1,50,000 crore for a crappy UID
scheme, a scheme that has been
discarded by both the UK and the
Philippines as a non workable plan
as well as a serious intrusion into
the civil liberties of citizens. No
other country in the world including the US has anything similar to
India's UID scheme.
Initially the country was given
the impression that this card can be
used for multi purposes as it
contains comprehensive information about the card holder and that
is why it is so expensive. But the
real fact of the matter is that it is
nothing but a simple software
database that even a novice
programmer can create.
First of all, Government
departments claim that the UID
card is not proof of citizenship.
Reserve bank recently instructed
all banks that UID card is not
acceptable identification to open
bank account and people need to
provide separate address proof.
Why can't people open bank
accounts even if they have UID
card. If not then what is the
purpose of wasting Rs. 150,000

crores on the UID card?
For getting a UID application
form they also need separate
address proof along with PAN
card. What about people staying in
hostels and people from other
states ? If the PAN card was not
proof enough then why add a new
UID card too? Was the PAN card a
failure? The UID card itself is not
up to the mark. People living in
Vashi which comes under Thane
district is shown in the UID card as
Raigad district.
In the UK, the Home Secretary
explained that they were abandoning their UID type project because
it would otherwise be 'intrusive
bullying' by the state, and that the
government intended to be the
'servant' of the people, and not
their 'master'. In the late nineties,
the Supreme Court of Philippines
struck down the President's
executive order which instituted a
biometric-based national ID
system calling it unconstitutional
because of its overreach of the
executive over the legislative
powers of the congress, and the
invasion of privacy. In India, the
UIDAI has been constituted on the
basis of a Government notification
and there is a great risk to civil
liberties with the convergence of
UID, NATGRID etc.
Very recently, India strongly
opposed the radio tagging of

Pages : 4

Earthworm: Secret weapon against climate change
B

elieve it or not, the humble earthworm has become the latest
secret weapon in the war against climate change. A major
four- year old study has revealed that instead of just wriggling around
and providing food for birds, earthworms- have been burrowing their
way through the ground for 300 million years - can help to prevent
flooding and droughts.
Floods and droughts are caused by cycles of dry weather and
monsoon- type rains often said to be caused by global warming. And
this is the humble earthworm can help the planet, say researchers at
the Game and Wildlife Conservation Society in the UK.
The average worm weighs less than half an ounce but it is able to
eat through a third of its own weight in soil a day. When worms tunnel
the soil absorbs more water, meaning that in their millions, worms can
turn the ground into one vast sponge soaking up water in floods but
retaining it during dry spells. Now, farmers can play a vital part in
combating the devastation aused by floods and droughts by encouraging earthworms, according to the researchers.
“Our research shows that farmers can make a huge different in
helping to mitigate the effects of climate change. When fields are not
ploughed, the soil condition is improved naturally by the tunneling of
earthworms, which absorb water at a rate of four to 10 times that of
fields which are without worm tunnels. “This in turn helps the soil to
take up water during storms and to retain it during drought. It also
helped to buffer our stream from flooding during heavy rain,” the
'Sunday Express' quoted Dr. Chris Stoate ,head of research at the
society's Allerton Project farm, as saying .
One of the key recommendations in the study is for farmers to cut
back on traditional ploughing to harness the power of the army of the
eco-friendly microbes and earthworm that live in the soil. This then
increases the capacity of the ground to take up water during storms
and then to retain it during droughts.
The worm has proved to be one of nature's great survivors and also
to be a vital player in the environment, breaking down soil, recycling
nutrients and being an important part of the farmland food chain.
Birds as varied as buzzards, owls, and Kestrels all feed on worms.
Some worms can live 10 years and although they have no teeth, arms,
eyes and legs they can move 27 feet per hour underground.
Indian students who went to the
US on student visas with bogus
papers through a bogus college
started by some fraudulent Chinese woman. It can be easily surmised that the Indian students,

mostly from Andhra Pradesh, were
party to the scam in which the
dubious university helped foreign
nationals illegally acquire immigration status. Indian Government
(continued on page 3 )

2

Nov. 1-15, 2011

Shameless MSEB at it again –
Or is it the Yedurappa effect ?
L

oad shedding has begun
again. The same problem
that people of Maharashtra have
been witnessing time and again. A
few years ago when load shedding
began, it was claimed that it was
due to paucity of electric power.
During that time it was found that
the reason for load shedding was to
force the public to support the
building of more power plants. No
new power plants were built after
that but a few years later after the
electricity rates were increased, lo
and behold, power suddenly
appeared magically out of
Alladin's lamp and there was no
need for any more load shedding
for the time being.
Now since they have again
started load shedding, they have
different reasons that are not clear.
On the one hand they claimed that
it was the poor quality of coal. On
the other hand they claimed that
they had a coal shortage. Then they
blamed the Telengana agitation for
the coal shortage.
They claimed that it is the
supposedly poor quality of coal
from India's mines that is being
supplied to the power plants.
MSEB's claim that the coal that is
being supplied to the power plants
is of low quality, and so there has to
be load shedding, is ridiculous in
the least. Why should low quality
of coal suddenly affect power
supply? Even if power generation
is affected, it should have been
gradual and not sudden. Why this
demand by MSEB to buy imported
coal that is three times more
expensive than Indian coal? Isn't
there something that sounds fishy?
Doesn't this sound like some tactic
of blackmailing the public to get

the required money sanctioned to
get imported coal at three times the
cost?
There are also other questions
that are coming to the public mind.
Why is there a sudden coal
shortage when India has the most
coal mafias legally and illegally
mining huge quantities of coal?
Well these questions pose uncomfortable answers, so suddenly the
powers have started to point
fingers at the Telangana agitation
due to which power plants are not
getting the required coal. They
claim that the situation has been
compounded by a reported coal
shortage even at the national level,
and also due to a flash 24-hour
strike by Coal India Limited
employees.
But the real clue and one of the
other reasons that comes to mind is
the resignation and arrest of BS
Yedurappa, the BJP Chief Minister
of Karnataka who had to recently
resign due his hand in illegal
mining. Is this supposed coal
shortage the after effect of the
arrest of Yedurappa? Has the
illegal mining activity got suspended due to Yedurappa's arrest?
Was the MSEB involved in
procuring coal from illegal mines
operated by politicians? If so then
there needs to be a CBI investigation into the matter and see to it
that all illegal mines are taken over
by the Government and kept
running instead of being stopped
and putting the public at misery.
Indian Corruption is endemic and
cannot be stopped in India so all
the public wants is “KHAO
LEKIN PUBLIC KO JEENE DO”
– MSEB NEEDS TO STOP THE
LOAD SHEDDING NOW !!!

Good cholesterol cuts
heart attack risk for diabetics

I

ncreasing levels of high- density lipoproteins, better known as
HDL or 'good' cholesterol, reduced the risk for heart attack and
stroke among patients with diabetes, according to a new study.
Lead author Gregory Nichols PhD, senior investigator with the
kaiser Permanente center for Heath Research in Portland ,Ore said
that heart attack and stroke rise increase when 'good' cholesterol
levels go down. Researchers studied patients with diabetes because
they are more prone to heart disease with a lifetime risk as high as 87
per cent .
While there is considerable evidence that reducing the amount of
low –density lipoprotein , also known as LDL or 'bad' cholesterol, can
reduce the risk of heart disease, the relationship between HDL
cholesterol and heart disease is less clear, Nichols said .
“Our study adds to the growing body of evidence that raising HDL
levels may be an important strategy for reducing heart attack risk,”
said study lead author Nichols.
The study included 30,067 patients who entered Kaiser
permanent diabetes registries in Oregon, Washington and Georgia
between 2001 and 2006. These patients had at least two HDL
cholesterol measurements between six and 24 months apart.

DISCLAIMER
The news published by various authors in this publication are their
sole opinion and Editor is in no way accountable and responsible.

DISCLAIMER
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does not support or vouch in any manner about the products, services etc., so advertised.
The advertisers only are responsible & accountable for their advertisements.

Compensation to the crime victims
I

n the case of Prem Shankar
Shukla v/s Delhi Admn, the
Supreme Court gave a number of
directions with a view to reforming and humanizing jail administration. Unfortunately, for a
variety of reasons, the directions of
the Supreme Courts not being
properly observed in most of the
jails in the country. Similarly, in
the case of Sheela Barse v/s State
of Maharashtra the Supreme Court
dealt with the question of treatment of women in police lock-ups
and gave detailed directions for
improving conditions in the lockup and providing adequate protection to the arrested persons, particularly to women kept in police
lock-ups.
Describing conditions of
police lock-up, Justice A.N. Mulla
Committee on Jail Reforms has
pointed out-“most of these lockups have insufficient accommodation and are without even such
basic facilities as lavatories, light,
water and ventilation. Sanitary

(The writer is a Post Graduate from Indian
Institute of Human Rights, New Delhi.)

conditions in these lock-ups are
also utterly unsatisfactory. The
very first encounter of a person
with the criminal justice system
thus invokes in him a reaction of
abhorrence for and distrust in the
criminal justice system. Conditions of Police lock-ups need to be
urgently improved”.
Justice A.N. Mulla in his report
on jail reforms has further said that
“the conditions of living in sub
jails area worse than in many

bigger jails mainly because the
buildings are old, improvised and
badly main-tained. There is acute
paucity of funds and facilities; and
the management is left to the care
of ill-paid, low level staff with
remote or indifferent supervision.
There are no adequate arrangements for preparing food for the
prisoners within the sub-jail
premises and sub-standard cooked
food is supplied through contract
system”.
The Report also deals with the
agonies of the life convicts in jails.
The Committee strongly felt that
section 433-A of the Cr. P.C. which
lays down that life convicts cannot
be released before the actual
imprisonment of 14 years should
be suitably amended.
The comm-ittee felt that if
immediate steps are not taken to
remove some of the genuine
grievances of the life convicts,
prison riots are likely to occur now
and again in different jails across
the country.

NERUL'S PALM TOWERS IS NARRATING
A MUST-LEARN LESSON FOR BUYERS
T

he Palm Towers in Nerul
will not be demolished for
now. In its last hearing the High
Court has directed the state
government to look into a plea
submitted by residents of Palm
Towers and has stayed the decision
of the town planning to demolish
the tower. When we spoke to shop
owners at Palm Towers, their
situation makes one see that the
Palm Towers is narrating a mustlearn lesson for all buyers.
Every possible violation in
book and the worst fears of every
buyer has become a reality at
Nerul's Palm Towers. The two 14
storyed towers went into one of the
worst disputes registered in the
city so far and was declared unauthorized by the NMMC's Town
Planning Office post a court order
to investigate the same. In its
report, the Town Planning Office
informed the court that as much as
17, 000 sq ft is FSI theft in the two
towers, which has to be razed
down. On September 7, the Town
Planning Office sent a notice to
residents to demolish the illegal

construction on their own within a
month or else NMMC would be
forced to do it.
As soon as the notice reached
the residence owners, panicky
residents rushed to High court with
pleas of injustice asking for
staying the demolition order of the
Town Planning Office. These
residents are up in arms against the
shop owners in the tower calling
their shops as being completely
illegal and demanding that they
should be demolished. Hearing
their appeal, the High Court
directed the state government to
expedite the hearing of this matter
and decide it within six weeks.
Until the government takes a
decision, that the demolition
notice issued by the ADTPO will
be stayed and that no fresh
occupancy will be issued.
At Palm Towers, shop owners
share their horrifying plight – from
how they were fooled into buying
the shops from the builder and how
they are facing losses due to
investment in the disputed
property.

National Level Cultural Competition in Mumbai
F

or the second time the
Amateur Artists Association of Mumbai is organis-ing
the ALL INDIA DANCE &
M U LT I L I N G U A L D R A M A
COMPETITION under the banner
of JALLOSH MUMBAPURIKA
MAHASANGRAM. The competition will be held from 27th Dec. to
31st Dec. 2011 at 'Late G.R. Shukla
Auditorium' Goregaon. The competition provides a platform for
talented personalities to compete
with other participants from around
the country and prove themselves in
various fields of dance, drama and
music. This remarkable cultural
event aspire at harmonizing the

diverse cultures from different parts
of the country and promoting its
beauty altogether on a single
platform.
The events of the competition
consists of Singing which include
Classical/Non-Classical, Folk,
Bhajan and Film Songs, Instrument
Playing which include any Indian or
Western instruments playing, the
Dance which includes Indian
Classical Dance, Semi-Classical,
Modern/Fusion Dance, Group
Dance and Regional Folk Dance.
Each of the dance events is classified on the basis of Solo, Duet and
Group dances which is again
categorised as Junior (below 12

All attempts to contact the
residence owners committee
Chairman K D Hudaodekar and
their lawyer Trupti Shetty proved
futile. The only relief to shop
owners is that the Additional
Director of Town Planning Sanjay
Banait has rejected the plea of
residents to demolish the shops.
Sanjay Banait has said that the
shops as structures are legal.
However, this relief is not the end
of their problems. With EMIs
eating into their savings each
month, the threat of massive
demolition looming large on Palm
Towers, no occupancy certificate
to the tower yet – there is a long
road of battles, struggles and
challenges for all those who have
invested in the disputed Palm
Towers. While the million-dollar
question is “Why is no one
penalizing the builder for the mess
and the officials of both CIDCO
and NMMC for dereliction of
duty?”, what is more important is
the lesson that Palm Towers is
narrating to all buyers.

years) and Senior. The most
appropriate talents in each field will
be honoured with various awards to
rising talents, prizes to the winners
and cash awards to group performances in drama and dance and
trophies to all winners, rising
talents and award winners and
certificates to all.
The presence of various Bollywood personalities at the event will
glamorise the importance and
acceptance of the cultural event
among the public which will in turn
promote the cultural development
of our society at a whole. For more
information contact the General
Secretary of Amateur Artists Association, Mr. P.N. Bhatt at
09869003536 or helpline at
09320986322.

3

Nov. 1-15, 2011

Nurses are not bonded workers

“Papa, I cannot continue
here. It is so tough. I have
suffered enough. I have no
patience left in me “, Beena had
sobbed over the phone to her
father in the morning. These
words were still ringing in his
ears when later, in the afternoon,
Baby received the shocking
news of his daughter's death.
21 year old Beena Baby, a
nurse with the Asian Heart
Institute in the Bandra-Kurla
Complex in Mumbai was found
dead in the hospital's hostel
situated at the Vrindavan
Gardens, Khar(west) on 18-102011at 12-30 pm. She belonged
to an economically backward
family of Thodupuzha in Kerala.
Her father Baby was a dailywage earner. Beena was a hard
working and intelligent girl and
passed her SSLC exam with a
commendable 93% marks and
the Plus Two with 81%. After
passing out from a private
nursing school in Kochi, she
joined the Asian Heart Institute,
Mumbai, full of hopes, in May,
this year. She was posted in the
Intensive Care Unit of the
hospital.
In one sense, Beena is a
symbol, a true representative of
the hundreds of Malayali girls
who come from poor families,
take loans for their education
and qualify themselves as
nurses. They seek employment
in the different parts of India.
Their life is one of struggle,
suffering all sorts of hardships
and humiliation, still facing the
world with a cheerful face,
hoping for a better future.
The sudden death of Beena
shocked her colleagues in the
hospital. There was no doubt in
their minds that she was forced
to take the extreme step because
of the harassment of the management. She had not left a suicide
note. A couple of days earlier,
Beena was under severe
pressure. A report of a particular
patient went missing from the
file and she was repeatedly
questioned about it. It was
subsequently found in another
file, probably the doctor who

(UID National waste ....
contd. from page

1)

deemed the radio tagging offensive and an assault on human
rights. If that is so, one wonders
how Nilekani's UID project that
wants to tag all honest and innocent Indian residents is not an
assault on the human rights of
Indians. The UID is nothing but a
scam perpetrated on the nation by
the Kings of the software industry
to loot and control the citizens of
this country.
According to Indian mythology, the “Rakshas” Ravan had 10
faces. Nilekanni has one more- 11
faces to be precise. The multi polar
faces of Nandan Manohar Nilekani, who acquired the rank of a
Cabinet minister without oath of

took it for reference was the one
responsible.
Beena's suicide triggered a
spontaneous strike by the Malayali
nurses who staged a sit-in dharna
at the hospital gate. The instant
action was, no doubt, a manifestation of their love and sympathy for
Beena, but, more importantly, it
was the outburst of the simmering
anger and discontent against the
hospital management which
everyone shared.
There are several five-star
hospitals in Mumbai, offering the
best in medical care. Everyone
knows about these hospitals, but
no one knows how badly the
nurses are treated there. Asian
Heart Institute is ranked very high
in the list of hospitals and is the
No. 1 for heart diseases in India.
However, Beena' suicide is a
blemish on its reputation.Tthe
strike by 200 Malayali nurses
brought the work of the hospital to
a standstill.
he main grievances of the
nursing staff were the bond
system, long working hours and ill
treatment by superiors and doctors. The doctors were charged
with even using abusive language
against the nurses. It is difficult to
understand as to how doctors who
are highly educated and qualified
can stoop so low as to use vulgar
language and that too against
women.
It was said that the hospital
gets a bond of Rs. 50000 executed
by every nurse stipulating that in
the event of the employee leaving
the hospital's services within two
years of service, she/he would pay
Rs. 50000 to the hospital. To
ensure that this clause is adhered
to, the hospital keeps the original
certificates and refuses to release
them unless the money is paid. In
essence, these employees are
treated as bonded workers.. It
appears that withholding of the
certificates is a general practice
with all the private hospitals and
not just the Asian Heart Institute.
We have heard of medical students
in government colleges giving
such bonds. That is because the
government spends a lot of money
on each student during his five
years of college. Is this the case
with the nurses?
It is ridiculous for a hospital to
obtain a bond from an emplo-yee
for whose education it hasn't spent
a penny. In fact the bond system
has been banned by the courts, but
continues to be practised. There

are certain age old practices
followed by com-mercial and
industrial houses in India. An
employee is recruited on
probation for three or six months
and on successfully completing
the period, he is confirmed in
service.
During the
probationary period, the
employee can quit after giving
24 hour notice. A permanent
employee can resign from
service giving a month's notice
or a month's salary in lieu of
notice. Some such rule should
be enforced in the hospitals too.
There should be no question of
Rs. 50000.
Another complaint was
about the working hours. A
factory worker is supposed to
work for eight hours in a day and
is entitled to a day's holiday in a
week. Most of the office employees including those who work
in the government departments
work less than 8 hours a day.
The working hours for nurses
should be fixed taking into consideration their nature of work
and work done beyond the duty
hours should be compensated in
an appropriate manner.
It was reported that nurses
get salaries in the range of Rs.
4000 to 8000. There are, of
course a few hospitals which pay
Rs.10000. In Delhi, many of the
hospitals pay Rs. 14000. There is
no reason why the nurses in
Mumbai should not be on a par
with their counterparts in Delhi.
The job of a nurse is not an easy
one. It demands qualities like
patience, alertness, quick response to changing situations and
above all dedication to the cause.
In everyday work, they are
sandwiched between the overbearing doctors and the recalcitrant ward boy/ayah. It should
also be noted here that the nurses
as a whole are a vulnerable class
and there have been many
instances of physical assaults on
them. It goes without saying that
the hospitals should ensure their
safety. The strike by the staff of
Asian Heart Institute has at least
served to bring into the open the
plight of the underpaid, exploited nurses. Though the hospital
has agreed to most of the
demands, the real solution lies in
the framing of rules by the
government on an all-India
basis.
Beena Baby's sacrifice
shouldn't go in vain.

Constitution and secrecy definitely seems to be the result of corrupt
corporate contributions to ruling
parties.
Nilekani has acquired the
following multiple faces: Head of
Technology Advisory Group on
Unique Projects (TAGUP) that
proposes 'private company with
public purpose' and with 'profit
making as the motive but not profit
maximizing', Head of Unique
Identification Authority of India
(UIDAI), which is functioning
without legislative approval either
at the Centre or in the states and
has signed contracts with US
companies like L1 Identities
Solution, Head of Committee on
Electronic Toll Collection (ETC)
technology for use on National

Highways that proposes Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID),
Head of an inter-ministerial task
force to streamline the subsidy
distribution mechanism, which
recommends something which
contrary to the provisions of the
Draft Food Security Bill, Head of
government of India's IT Task
Force for Power Sector, Member
of National Knowledge Commission, Member of Review Committee of the Jawaharlal Nehru
National Urban Renewal Mission,
Member of National Advisory
Group on e-Governance, Member
of Subcommittee of the Securities
and Exchange Board of India that
dealt with issues related to insider
trading, Member of Reserve Bank
of India's Advisory Group on

NAVI MUMBAI - NEWS
Sanpada bridge in great danger !!!
Akriti Seth
(CIDCO AND RAILWAY AUTHORITIES DODGE RESPONSIBILTY OF THE SANPADA BRIDGE WHILE
COMMON MAN PUTS HIS LIFE AT STAKE)
The foot over bridge above the railway line at Sanpada is turning
out to be a cause of great inconvenience for pedestrians. The bridge is
under the threat of giving away anytime putting the lives of those
crossing the bridge on a regular basis in grave danger. Every time a
train passes from under the bridge, the bridge shakes and rattles.
Those who cross the bridge regularly fear that the bridge may collapse
any moment. “Our school is one the other side of the bridge and we
have no option but to use this bridge regularly” says fear struck school
students of Sanpada. Early this year in January MP Sanjeev Naik
promised to allocate Rupees five lakh from his fund for the
reconstruction of this bridge. However, no action has been taken so
far. Despite several complaints from daily commuters the bridge
continues to be neglected by the authorities.
“Since two to three years the nearby temple has been celebrating
Datta Yatra festival; that day the bridge shakes like a swing and
children can take a ride on it. The bridge cannot take the load of more
than 50 people at once.” says a daily commuter. Residents around the
bridge say “The people don't pay attention, the ministers don't pay
attention, and nobody wants to pay attention to this bridge”. During
the Datta Jayanti festival which is celebrated every year in the month
of December, the bridge poses the greatest danger. Thousands of
devotees come to be a part of the festival at the Datta temple adjacent
to this bridge. Digambar Patil, Temple Trustee and MNS leader said
“The Bridge constructed by CIDCO is not a durable one. It has not
been built in the way it should have been.” The maintenance of the
bridge comes under both CIDCO and Railway authorities. PU Dhar,
SETP CIDCO said “The foot over bridge was constructed by the
railway department and its maintenance comes under the
municipality. CIDCO has no role to play in this. A letter has been
written by Railways to municipality asking for a deposit of Rupees
nine lakhs. However it hasn't been sanctioned yet. No work can start
before the whole amount is received.”
As the CIDCO and railway authorities continue to sleep over the
construction of this bridge people are left with no other option but to
travel in constant fear of meeting with a mishap. Despite several
complaints the authorities seem to be in no mood to take this issue
seriously. Will it take a shattering mishap to awaken the powers that
be ?

Garage Garbage

T

he famous “Garage lane” in Sector-17, Vashi is known for
giving cars a different look. There are close to 15 shops in one
lane, looking like mini godowns with spare parts scattered
everywhere. The lane is always filled with cars, mostly new ones
causing a congestion problem for the routine traffic.
Sowjanya Harinarayana, one of the residents staying in the
opposite building, says, “These shops have encroached the roads and
can be a nuisance at times when there is too much traffic. The NMMC
has tried to get rid of them plenty of times, but as always have never
been successful and they land put creating a mess.”
NMMC had set up a barricade, restricting the cars to one lane.
Within a week, the barricades were crushed and now all that remains
are the flatten parts of it stuck to the road. The owner of Siddhi car
accessories, Mr. Girish, begs to differ, “We have often been blamed of
encroaching the roads, but we are not to be blamed, our businesses are
doing well thus there is crowd and traffic!”
There are, on the other hand, a few other residents who only have a
problem with the shop owners not keeping the surroundings clean.
Satish Aggarwal, a local resident says, “Being a car enthusiast, I think
I'm very lucky to live here as I get to see the latest cars and I am kept
up-to-date with the technology they use.
The roads are left with dirty wrappers and unused equipments.”
Even the shop owners agree. “We are planning on forming an
association and setting certain ground rules to ensure hygiene and the
overall well-being of the people living in the locality,” Vajir Singh
said.
corporate governance, Member of
Prime Minister's National Council
on Skill Development. When it is
hard for one person to perform as
head or member of one organization, one wonders how Nilekkani
can head all these organizations
together. Perhaps only “Ravan”
can answer this question.
But once the UID scheme is
implemented fully any Indian
software company dealing with
UID cards and government
departments can access all your
private and public information,
including your credit card num-

bers and bank account details
which is definitely scary. Imagine
what would happen if a rabidly
communal or Nazi type party
comes to power at the center. It
would get its hands on this
readymade information and use it
to economically and socially
destroy all minorities and enemies.
It is high time the Central Government look into this issue seriously
before it wastes any more of
taxpayer money to take away the
rights and liberties of the common
man.

The ill effects of urbanization
take its toll on the lakes in Thane.
Thane is the fastest growing
city that lies 7 feet above the sea
level. The city once had over 65
lakes and therefore came to be
known as the 'lake city'.
However the growing infrastructure and real estate has
deteriorated the condition of the
lakes to such an extent that many
of them hardly existing. Hawkers
and other public throw garbage in
the water thereby polluting the
lake. Due to urbanization, lack of

commonly known as Talao Pali. It
is close to Thane Railway Station.
At its center lies a temple with a
huge idol of lord hanuman which
is about 20 foot high. This lake is
also surrounded by erections of
historic importance like Kopineshwar Temple and St. John
Church which enhances its beauty.
But Masunda Talao, which is a
favourite amongst the locals, is
only 10% of the actual size of the
lake that is 1200 X 1016 feet. But
today only 1,23,545 of the total
square feet exist.

Nominated to the National Omega-3 Prevents Osteoarthritis
Advisory committee
O

Ms. Ambika Warasiar has been
nominated to the advisory board of
the 11th national level arts competition of Orissa, the Global Theatre
Festival is conducted by the
renowned organization the
Theatre Movement. The 11 th
National Dance- Music- Drama
competition is to be conducted in
Cuttack, Orissa. Ambika Warasiar
has been selected for this great
post considering her contribution
to the field of dance and music as
well as her excellence in the field.
She is the first Malayalee to be
nominated to the board. Thus she
has conquered new horizons of
success in her list of achievements.
Ambika Warasiar is the Creative
Wing Director of Tru Indian Information Guidance Society and is a
renowned dance teacher. The
application forms for the competition can be obtained from the Tru
Indian Information and Guidance
Society office at Dombivli.
Phone: 9320986322

mega- 3 in fish oil could
“substantially and significantly” reduce the signs and
symptoms of osteoarthritis and
slow its progression.
Omega-3-rich diets fed to
guinea pigs, which naturally
develop osteoarthritis, reduced
disease by 50 percent compared
to a standard diet, according to a
University of Bristol study.
Omega-3 fatty acids, either
sourced from fish oil or flax oil,
may help to show down the
progression of osteoarthritis , or
even prevent it from occurring,
confirming “old wives' tales”
about the benefits of fish oil for
joint health, the journal Osteo-

arthritis and cartilage reports.
John Tarlton, from the University of Bristol's school of
Veterinary Sciences, who led the
study, said typical symptoms,
such as the degradation of
collagen in cartilage and the loss
of molecules that given it shock
absorbing properties, were both
reduced with Omega-3 “Furthermore, there was strong evidence
that Omega-3 influences the
biochemistry of the disease, and
therefore not only helps prevent
disease but also slows its
progression, potentially controlling established osteoarthritis,” he Said according to a
Bristol statement.

Haribansh R. Singh
98210 13066 / 97020 7777

The Thane Municipal Corporation has taken steps to improve
the condition of the lakes which is
the essence of the city. “Since the
time Corporation came into
existence, we are working on
conservation and beautification of
lakes. Till now we have 35 lakes
registered with us. We have tried to
conserve 14 lakes till now, and we
have made the provisions in our
annual budget for the beautification of the remaining lakes by the
next year”, said the TMC Public
Relations Officer (PRO), Sandeep
Malvi.
Other lakes like Makhmali
Talao, Siddeshwar Lake, Ambeghosale Lake, Upvan Lake etc are
now being maintained by the
Corporation. But the lake is not
cleaned regularly resulting in the
formation of algae. TMC is working on improving the “physical
appearance” of the lake but it has
failed to maintain a check on the
cleanliness.
Environmentalist Nitin Deshpande said, “Urbanisation and
negligence of the Government
body hassled decrease in the
number of lakes in this city. As per
the constitution Article 48-A
(which ensures Protection and

improvement of environment and
safeguarding of forests and wild
life) government has to protect any
natural resource.”
Even though the TMC ensures
to protect the lakes, many of them
have dried up or rather became
non-existent. One such lake is the
Jogila Lake, surprisingly where
the Thane Municipal Corporation
building stands today. When asked
about it, Sandeep Malvi denies being aware of any such happening.
The environmentalist also added that a few years ago, the spot
where Kolbad Lake stands today
was a dumping ground. TMC
spent 36 lakhs on the beautification of the lake. Still the condition
of the lake is such that it is in no
way helpful for the citizens. The
Corporation that claims to have
maintained the lakes in a proper
condition has focused only on
enhancing the appearance of the
lakes rather than scientific beautification. Also the lakes which are
in the heart of the city are given
more priority for regular water
purification as compared to the
lesser known ones.
Destroying the natural resources creates imbalance in the
environment. The only hope left is
to preserve and maintain the remaining lakes of Thane efficiently
and getting sufficient attention by
the government authorities.